Report: Killings of Environmentalists up 60 Pct in 2015

Global Witness says in a report released Monday that Brazil tops the list with 50 environmental defenders slain in 2015

A man runs past by a statue made by Netherlands' artist Peter Smith with recycled plastic litter in the project "Plastic Madonna" to draw awareness to plastic pollution in the oceans, on Botafogo beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, June 9, 2016. The Sugarloaf mountain is seen in the background. Photo: Reuters/Sergio Moraes , Photo: Reuters/Sergio Moraes

SÃO PAULO — A London-based advocacy group says it has documented the killings of 185 environmental activists in 16 countries last year, nearly 60 percent more than in 2014.Global Witness says in a report released Monday that Brazil tops the list with 50 environmental defenders slain in 2015. The Philippines is second with 33 killings, followed by Colombia with 26.The report says last year's toll is the highest since Global Witness began collecting data dating back to 2002, making 2015 the "deadliest year on record." The group says 116 were slain in 2014.It says land conflicts involving mining, agribusiness, hydroelectric dams and logging are behind most of the killings of environmental defenders — more than three a week, on average.